S( l.ERODERMATACEAE 167 



Michael. Fiihrerf. Pil/.freunde 1: \o. 82. 1918 (2nd ed.). 

 Petri. I.e.. figs, S3 , 54, No. 4 (both as 5. vulgarc) . 

 Tulasne. Ann. Sd, Nat., 2nd. ser. 17: pi. 1. 1842. 



North Carolina. Blowing Rock. Coker and party, August 1922. No. 5506. Under balsam and 

 spruce on Grandfather Mountain. No. 5528. By a chestnut oak stump. No. 5622. On 

 rotting wood and deep woods mold by Glen Burnie Falls. Xo. 5656. At foot of a chestnut. 

 Spores S-13ji thick not counting the spines which are up to 1.8m long. No. 5681. In de- 

 ciduous woods by roadside. Spores 8-14m thick, with a distinct reticulum. No. 5686. In 

 mossy humus under hemlock. Parasitized by Boletus parasiticus. 



Pennsylvania.' Buck Hill Falls. Mrs. Delafield, coll. (N. Y. B. G.). 



New York. Cold Spring Harbor, L. I. Couch, coll. (U. N. C. Herb.). 



Illinois. Urbana. McDougall, coll. (U. N. C. Herb.). 



Wisconsin. Devil's Lake. (Univ. Wis. Herb, and U. N. C. Herb.) Spores reticulated, 9.5-12^. 



Canada. London. Dearness, Xo. 578F. (U. N. C. Herb.) 

 Avon. Dearness, No. 578 Av. (U. N. C. Herb.) 



Scleroderma cepa (Vaill.) Pers. 



Plates 92, 93 and 120 



Plants subglobose or lobed, often flattened, about 1.5-6 cm. broad, sessile or nearly 

 so and attached by a thick mass of fibrous mycelium ; surface nearly pure white when 

 young, soon straw colored or yellowish ochraceous to dull leather brown, turning quickly 

 deep vinaceous when rubbed, finely areolated, or covered over most of the surface with 

 very small, inherent, concolorous scales, or in large part smooth; peridium up to 1.5 

 mm. thick when fresh, less than 0.5 mm. thick when dry, firm, not very brittle, much 

 thinner and less brittle than in S.flavidum, white in section at first then turning vinace- 

 ous on exposure; spore mass watery white until at least half grown, then rapidly becom- 

 ing nearly black with a purple tint and finally less dark, varying from Saccardo's umber 

 to sepia (Ridgway) depending on the time collected; odorless. 



Spores (of No. 916) globose, strongly spinulose, 7-11.4/1 thick, including the sharp 

 spines which not rarely are up to 2/i long; not at all reticulate and with or without a 

 halo connecting the spine tips. Tramal plates only partly reswelling in water, heavily 

 encrusted with yellow crystals. 



Smooth forms of this plant resemble S. bovista (in sense of Hollos) in surface ap- 

 pearance, but can be distinguished from the latter by the less rigid and less brittle 

 peridium, less dark spore-mass (if mature) and the smaller, spiny spores which are 

 without a reticulum. Young plants are separated by the paler color and purplish color 

 change of the peridium. Rough forms approach 5. flavidum in appearance, but that is 

 easily separated by the thicker, more brittle and paler peridium. 



Illustrations: Bambeke. 1. c, fig. 4 (spores). 



Fries, Th. C. E. Sveriges Gasteromyceter, fig. 38. 

 Hollow. 1. c, pi. 23, figs. 3-7. 

 Lloyd. Myc. Works, pi. 31. 1905. 

 Petri. 1. c, fig. 54, Xo. 1 and fig. 55. 



916. In grass on campus, Oct. 15, 1913. 

 7112. In sandy soil by campus path, Sept. 10, 1923. Fresh plants distinctly tinted lavender when 



bruised. 

 7201. In swamp of Bowlin's Creek, Oct. 26, 1923. Spores 10-12.5*1 thick, counting the spines which 



are long, sharp and triangular; no reticulum. 



